Top 20 vendors accounting for 93% of shipments

2017 witnessed a record of 98.563 GW of solar inverter shipments, with a 23% growth compared with 2016. The top-20 vendors shipped over 1 GW of products, accounting for 93% of global shipments, the highest since GTM began to keep track in 2010.

Top 4 vendors maintained the ranking since 2015

The concentrating market has reinforced the Matthew effect. Top vendors with accumulated advantages continue to expand fast. The top 4 solar inverter vendors have maintained the ranking from 2015 to 2017, with Huawei on top of the list for three years in a row.

In terms of the segment market, three-phase string inverter shipments hit 46.233 GW in 2017 and grew 49% year-over-year. Central inverter shipments reached 42.382 GW. It is the first time that string inverter shipments exceeded those of central inverters by nearly 4 GW.

String inverters mainstream also for ground-mounted PV plants

Thanks to the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technology, string inverters achieve a better performance in energy yields, adaptability to complex environments, management granularity, reliability, and maintenance costs. They have gained more popularity in large ground-mounted power plants. Taking China's Top Runner program, for example, string inverters have taken up more than 80% in power plants. The GTM report is also a proof that string inverters have become the mainstream for large ground-mounted PV power plants. (HCN)